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B.A. International Business and Social SciencesM.A. International Business and Psychology
Formal Requirements for Theses and Term Papers
Prof. Dr. Franca RuhwedelPlease note: These are individual requirements for my students. Other supervisors might have different expectations. Please always check with your supervisor and the Academic Writing Manual.
Font Size Regular, unadorned font of size approximately corresponding to Arial 11 point or Times New Roman 12 point.
Smaller font sizes in footnotes (Arial 8 point or Times New Roman 9 point), tables andfigures.
Headings may be up to a size corresponding to Arial 14 pt or Times New Roman 15 pt. The chosen font style has to be used consistently throughout the entire paper.
Line Spacing Spacing 1.5 ( Zeilenabstand) Headings longer than one line, block quotations, tables, figures, footnotes lists and
references usually have single spacing
Justification Use full justification (flush left and flush right) as setting of type ( Blocksatz) Use hyphenation ( Automatische Silbentrennung)
Preliminary pages (List of content, list of tables etc.) are numbered with lower case Roman numerals (i, ii, iii…). The number of the title page (i) is not displayed.
Start with Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3…) on the first page of your text (usually chapter 1,introduction).
Arabic numerals run through until the end (including list of references and appendix).
Are numbered throughout the paper (Table 1: Name, Table 2: Name…) and Figure 1: Name, Figure 2: Name…).
Are listed in the List of Tables and in the List of Figures.
Page count Seminar Paper: 8 – 10 pages Bachelor Thesis: 40 – 60 pages Master Thesis: 60 – 80 pages Any deviations from this leads to a grade discount. In some cases (i.e. when
empirical work is done) exceptions are made – but always ask before you write more. Appendix, List of References etc. are not part of the pages count.
Title Page Title (and subtitle) of the paper, Type of paper, Module and subject (if not a thesis), Name and faculty of the university, Name and title of the supervisor, Your name, registration number, and due date
How to turn in Seminar Paper: Plastic folder, no adhesive binding necessary. Thesis: Adhesive-bound (no spiral binding) ( Klebebindung, keine Ringbindung),
softcover is fine, no hardcover necessary. Thesis: 3 hard copies and 1 CDROM hand in at SSC ALWAYS upload your seminar paper on Moodle on date of submittance. This is a
necessary prerequisite for grading. Hand in thesis via email to [email protected].
Abstract Summary of addressed research questions, adopted methods, results, and conclusions.
Should not exceed 250 words. Below the abstract list 5 keywords with respect to your work.
For additional information please refer to the Academic Writing Manual available on moodle.
If a subchapter is following there isno long text allowed beneath theheadline. You may write a shortintroductory text for the chapterthough („Vorreiter“). It should not
exceed 4‐5 sentences.
• Length of Chapters There is no general rule for this. Still: If your (sub-)chapter exceeds two pages you should question yourself if it makes
sense to divide it into seperate subchapters.
• Divide your text into meaningful sections Long sections without interruptions are hard to read. Help the reader and structure your
text! Always make paragraphs after a couple of sentences (after a train of thoughts has ended).
How to cite right? (McCaffrey & McMahon, 2005)Citing and referencing correctly in Harvard referencing style
• What is Referencing?Referencing is the acknowledgement of books, articles, websites and any other material used in the writing of a paper, essay, project or thesis.
• There are two essential elements of referencing…• Citing…referring to sources within text• Reference list…the detailed list of references which have been cited
Why is referencing essential? What is plagiarism?
• A well referenced paper… • Allows the reader to locate the
sources used• Ensures that plagiarism is avoided• Makes the contribution of each
piece of research clear
• Using others’ ideas and/or wordswithout clearly acknowledging the source of the information.
Citation – either in Footnotes or in Text (Harvard Style)
• Always name the concrete page number you are referring to!
• Always use „Short citation style“ (i.e. Miller (2014), p. 20). Title, place and publisher are NOT mentioned here (only in the bibliography).
• Internet sources shall NOT be cited in footnote or text with the URL. You haveto decide on a short title which makes the webpage identifyable (i.e. Investopedia: Earnings per Share). For internet sources such as investopediausually no year and no page number is needed in the footnote. The URL aswell as the date on which the website has been accessed is given in thebibliography.
What is quoting? Quoting means exactly adopting anothers author’s words.
Put short quotations (around twenty words or less) in inverted commas within the text.Society has developed a “boundary-free culture” (Critser 2003, p. 31) which has affected our food consumption…
Long quotations should be indented in a separate paragraph, in a smaller font. Cite the author and date in the same font and in brackets at the right margin of the page, under the quotation.
“Nowhere did this new boundary-free culture of American food consumption thrive better than in the traditional American family, which by the ‘80s was undergoing rapid change.“
(Critser 2003, p.31)
Please try to focus on writing in your own
words and combining the ideas of several authors. Use longer direct quotesonly where absolutely
Article in a journal – Print or pdfWeir, C./Laing, D./McKnight, P. J. (2002): Internal and external governance mechanisms: their impact on the performance of large UK public companies. In: Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, 29 (5-6), pp. 579-611.
Article in an ejournal – Web onlySilversides, A. (2000): Fighting for fairness for the strangers at the gate. In: Canadian Medical Association Journal [online], 162 (1), pp. 176-80. Available:http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=beh&an=2697832 [accessed 27 Jul 2014].
Different types of references (McCaffrey & McMahon, 2005)
Unpublished paperNixon, W. (2004): DAEDELUS: developing an agenda for institutional e-print archives, paper presented at Digital Library Directions: Current Initiatives, LIR Annual Seminar, Trinity College Dublin, 26 Mar 2004.
Nixon, W. (2004): DAEDELUS: developing an agenda for institutional e-print archives, Working Paper, Trinity College Dublin.
Chapter in a bookGratton, L. (1994): Empowering leaders: are they being developed? In: Mabey, C. and Iles, P., eds., Managing Learning, London: Routledge, pp. 87-104.
Different types of references (McCaffrey & McMahon, 2005)
Internet Sources(The Website itself is cited and not a publication which can be downloaded you have to decide on a meaningful title for the specific page yourself.
Here: Earnings per Share)Investopedia (2014): Earnings per Share. Available:http://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/eps.asp [accessed 3 Sept 2014]..Publications available on the internet as download:KPMG (2014): Global Manufacturing Outlook 2014. Available: http://www.kpmg.com/Global/en/IssuesAndInsights/ArticlesPublications/global-manufacturing-outlook/Pages/performance-in-the-crosshairs.aspx [accessed 3 Sept 2014].
(Caroli 2004a)Caroli, M. (2004a): Childhood obesity andthe role of television. In: Journal of Obesity,28 (5), 43‐44.
First of two worksby an author in the
same year
(Caroli 2004a)Caroli, M. (2004b): Role of television in adultobesity levels. In: International Journal ofObesity and Related Metabolic Disorders,23 (12), 1303‐1306.
Second of two works by an author in the same
year
(Smith 1990 cited in Buckroyd 1996)
Buckroyd, J. (1996): Eating Your Heart Out:Understanding and Overcoming EatingDisorders, 2nd ed., London: Vermilion.
Source quoted inanother source
MacDonald, G. (1997) : Innovation diffusion and health education in schools. In: Sidell, M., Jones, L., Katz, J. and Perberdy, A. (eds.): Debates and Dilemmas in Promoting Health, London: Open University, 55‐83.
Contribution (article or chapter) in an edited
book
Avoid indirect citations – only citethose sources that you have read!
In an edited book always cite the author of the corresponding article.
Citation in text Info / format for reference list# of authors
MacDonald (1997)
Different types of authors (2 of 2) (McCaffrey & McMahon, 2005)
Basic rules for authors (McCaffrey & McMahon, 2005)
• Give surname only when citing within text or in the footnote. Give surname and initials or surname and first namges in the reference list.
• Since you may not know the full first name of every author you refer to, it is more consistent to give initials rather than Christian names in the reference list.
• Do not include titles such as Sir, Dr., Prof., PhD, in your references.
• Reference double-barrellednames under the first part of the surname, Ryan-Kennedy, J. and referencenames like Van der Veer orVan Dyke under Van
• When referencing a work by more than one author, give the names in the orderthey appear on the work, and not in alphabetical order
Abarbanell, J./Lehavey, R. (2002): Can Stock Recommendations Predict Earnings Management and Analysts' Earnings Forecast Errors? In: JAR 41, pp. 1-31.Fama, E. (1970): Efficient Capital Markets – A review of Theory and Empirical Work. In: JoF 25, pp. 383-417.Gould, S. J. (1988): The Streak of Streaks. The New York Review of Books, New York: McGraw-Hill.Lambert, C. (2006): The Marketplace of Perceptions. In: Harvard Magazine, March/April, pp. 50-57 and 93-97.Leuz, C./Nanda, D./Wysocki, P.D. (2003): Earnings Management and Investor Protection: An International Comparison. In: JFE 69, pp. 505-527.Teoh, S.H./Welch, I./Wong, T.J.(1998): Earnings Management and the Long Run Performance of Initial Public Offerings. In: JoF 53, 1935-1974.Tversky, A. and Kahneman, D. (1982): Judgments of and by representativeness. In D. Kahneman, P. Slovic & A. Tversky (Eds.), Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics andbiases. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Xie, B./Davidson III, W.N./DaDalt, P.J. (2003): Earnings Management and Corporate Governance: The Role of the Board and the Audit Committee. In: JCF 9, pp. 295-316.
Please note: In German publications for books only the
place where the book is publishedis mentioned (Cambridge). English
publications also name thepublisher (Cambridge University
Be aware: The Reference List will be the first thing for me to lookat when I will have your work in hand in order to evaluate it.
As a rule of thumb you should have at least twice as manysources as your work is pages long.
And when I talk of sources I am talking about high quality sources– journal articles, working papers, dissertations etc. Internet sources as well as textboocs are also o.k. – as long asthey make up the only the very minor part of sources.
Don‘t be lazy in the library! Your reference base is a key factor for success!
If the article is not available for free, you can see in which journal the paper is published and check whether we have access to it in the HSRW- library